We Took a Tour Bus to Coachella with AlunaGeorge, and This Is Why It Was the Best Trip Ever

Sorta like spring break, but with a famous band.

Coachella is kind of in the middle of nowhere—it's not in Los Angeles, it's not in Palm Springs, it's not even in Coachella Valley, a real town in California you'd assume hosts the annual festival. But nope! Coachella's actually in Indio, a tiny desert city with no airports and few taxis. There's no easy way to make the trek, so we opted for the most fun way instead: We took a tour bus with AlunaGeorge from downtown L.A. all the way to the desert. Yep, that's right—we spent two and a half hours on the road with incomparable lead singer Aluna Francis, electro-pop's coolest Brit chick, quizzing her about her personal style, marveling at her shoes (tall, strappy, mirrored), and talking about all things music.

There were a few bumps along the way—someone on the bus got carsick, and it may or may not have been the dramamine-dependant person writing this story—but Coachella conquers all, even a little nausea. And heading there on a bus with a super cool singer was

We were invited by Microsoft as part of their "Ready When You Are" campaign (shatter your screen in the middle of your favorite band's show? Tweet 'em, and they may swoop in with a brand-new phone). Which was probably a good thing for Aluna, who, during our interview, produced what we thought must be a desert mirage but was actually her ancient flip phone—AKA an Instagram-less, Twitter-free contraption only good for making calls and the occasional text. And one's inaugural Coachella is certainly an occasion that calls for 'gramming.

First times aside, Aluna insisted she was prepared thanks to years spent music festival-ing her way through the U.K. "Going to Glastonbury—there's no place more crazy. I'm sorry, Coachella!" she said. "Just the fact that you can wear shoes there instead of wellies will be an interesting thing for me."

A few days later, Aluna was taking the stage—dressed in a sheer embellished tunic, hot pants, and black kicks that were definitely not wellies—and singing her heart out to an enormous crowd who knew every word to tracks like "Your Drums, Your Love" and "Attracting Flies." She wouldn't reveal much about her set (which ended up being stellar, by the way!) ahead of time, though she did offer this: "We've switched it up quite a lot, and we have new songs. It's going to be the first time literally anyone has heard some of these songs. You gotta take risks at Coachella." And those new songs? They were great, but even better was her cover of the very old "This Is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan. Classic.

Reflecting on their lightning-fast rise to fame (everyone from Justin Bieber to Jay Z to Debbie Harry performed at this year's exceedingly star-studded festival), she said, "When me and George first met, there was an unspoken ambition and drive behind us. We believed in each other a lot, and we agreed to do everything to get our music out there." And there's arguably no better way to get your music out there than to perform it—and crash Disclosure's buzzed-about set to sing one of their biggest hits—at a music festival attended by more than 100,000 people.

Keep your eye on this duo; everyone who saw them play on Sunday sure will be.